Dehumanized

Fr. Frank Pavone

[This column is a
continuation in our current series on abortion providers.]

Each of us has a natural psychological and
physical barrier to killing someone. In normal circumstances, we just can’t
bring ourselves to do it. This is part of our humanity. Killing is easier when
one dehumanizes the victim first. Bullies engage in name-calling before beating
up their victims. Yet in dehumanizing the victim, the perpetrator dehumanizes
himself. So it is with abortionists.

Abortionists normally begin medical training
with high hopes that they will help humanity. Most of them, however, come from a
childhood marked with abuse or neglect, and have low self-worth. An esteemed
mentor may take them aside to show them an abortion, and the process of
dehumanization is accelerated as soon as the abortionist-in-training refuses to
listen to the voice of conscience. Dr. Philip Ney explains in his book The
Centurion’s Pathway, “They quell their natural protest, “No, you mustn’t
do that,” much like they stilled a protest at their own mistreatment. Once they
have passively participated in an abortion, they must begin to rationalize to
themselves why they did not protest” (p. 39).

David Brewer, MD, a former abortionist, tells
his story: “I can remember that day watching the first
abortion with the resident doctor sitting down and putting the tube in and
removing the contents… I was going to get to see a new procedure and learn, and
that was exciting…. I opened the jar and … there were parts in there of a
person. I d taken anatomy; I was a medical student; I knew what I was looking
at. There was a little scapula and an arm and I saw some ribs and a chest, and I
saw a little tiny head, and I saw a piece of a leg, and I saw a tiny hand, and I
saw an arm. You know, it was like somebody put a hot poker into me…I had a
conscience and that hurt.… That was a very hard experience for me to go through,
emotionally. So I did what a lot of us do throughout our life, we don t do
anything. I didn t talk with anybody about it. … and do you know what happened?
I got to see another abortion. You know what? That one hurt, too. But I kept
seeing abortions, and it hurt a little bit less every time I saw one. Do you
know what happened next? I got to sit down and do one…The first one that I did
was kind of hard. It was like hurting again like a hot poker. But after a while
it got to where it didn t hurt” (Testimony at “Meet the Abortion Providers”
conference, Chicago).

Dr. Bernard Nathanson even aborted his own
child, and writes about how he felt. “I swear to you that I had no feelings
aside from the sense of accomplishment, the pride of expertise. On inspecting
the contents of the bag I felt only the satisfaction of knowing that I had done
a thorough job” (The Hand of God, p.60).